Bottle filling and sealing machine



May 1, 1928. 1,668,264

A. CALLESON BTTLE FILLING AND SEALING MACHINE Filed June 25, 1925 5 sh 'cs-sheet 1 m I, l?

May 1, 1928.

1,668,264 A. CALLESON BOTTLE FILLING AND SEALING MACHINE y Filled June 25, -1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

May l, 1928.

A. CALLESON BOTTLE FILLING AND SEALING MACHINE Filed June 25, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 TTURNEV May l, 1928. 1,668,264

A. CALLESON BOTTLE FILLING AND SEALING MACH'INE Filed June 25, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 vMay 1, 1928.v

v A. cALLESoN BOTTLE FILLING AND SELIIG' MACHINE Filed June' 25 5 sheets-sheet 6 n o s e a C s m P\ Patented May l, 1928.

UNITED STATES AICS CALLESON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BOTTLE FILLING AND SEALING MACHINE.

Application led June 25,

This invention relates to bottle filling and sealing machines, and its object is to provide a simple and durable machine of this class in which the filling and sealing may be effected with the maximum of speed and without requiring any `greater skill on the part of the attendant beyond feeding the empty bottles to a conveyor and removing them therefrom as fast as they are filled and lo sealed.

Among the principal features of the machine are a novel combination of parts whereby a sealed filling space may be forme-d at the container mouth and the filling liquid then delivered to the container; a novel construction of a machine of the rotary type for filling or sealing or otherwise operating on containers whereby the same may be altered to suit containers varying as to standards of height; novel means for detecting the presence of a container as a preliminary to performing a filling operation or the like; and a novel combination of arts wherebyad justment to suit `different-heights of containers maybe effected and whereby compensation may take place for containers varying in height thou h supposed to be of the same height-standar.v

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the machine, partly in side elevation;

Figs. 2 and 3 are horizontal sections on lines 2-2 and 33, respectively of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the upper turret of the main rotary structure, certain parts carried thereby appearing in section and others in elevation;

Fig. 4* is a fragmentar view of the valvedepressor and its contro ing means;

Fig. 5 is a fragment-ary section of said turret on line 5-5, Fig. 4, showing those of said parts below said-line in elevation and those above said line removed;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of said parts and a fragment of said turret;

Fig. 7 shows in front elevation the lower turret, the lower fixed cam (said turret being broken away to reveal the cam) and a part of one of the container supporting means;

Fig. 8 shows in plan, partly in section, what appears in Fig. 7; v

Fig. 9 is a sectional view, in a plane radial with respect to the axis of the rotary structure, of the turret, cam and container supporting means, illustrating particularly the mechanism for compensating for differing heights of containers;

1923. Serial No. 647,468.

Fig. 10 is a plan of the bottle rest;

Fig. 11 shows in vertical section the parts immediately concerned in the operations of filling and closure-alfixing, and a bottle and crown or closure in the positions they occupy just prior to the filling operation;

Figs. 12 and 13 are a plan and front elevation, respectively, of a certain sleeve shown in Fig. 11; and

Figs. 14 to 15a illustrate the cams e. g.

The frame ofthe machine may be described as follows: In a cylindrical base a are stepped and fixed three pillars b which have slidable vertically thereon the head c of the frame. Upstanding centrally from the bottom of and within the base is a pedestal d, which has suitably affixed thereto a cam e. A vertical shaft f, which is splined in the pedestal d at f and hence may be moved vertically but cannot rotate, has

'aiiixed thereto another cam g and through the intermediary of a gear k interposed between this cam and the head c the said head is supported. Thus when the shaft is adjusted vertically the effective height of the frame is altered, as well as that of the rotary structure to be described. Such adjustment may be effected by a vertical screw i which istappe-d into the shafts lower end and is swiveled in a bracket j in the base, the screw and a suitably journaled horizontal shaft la being connected by bevel gearing Z whereby to turn the screw upon turning shaft k, as by a handle m. (There may be anti-friction bearings, indicated at n in Fig. 1, between the gear h on the one hand and cam g and head c.)

The aforementioned rotary structure includes two turrets, upper and lower, splined to rotate together about the shaft f as an axis, the lower one being journaled on the lower or fixed part of the frame of the machine and the other including the gear h and thus adjustable vertically with the parts fc of theframe. The lower turret, 0,1s a generally cylindrical casting having as a rigid part thereof a central pedestal o which is stepped and journaled at p on the top of the pedestal d; it also has four equidistantupwardly open pockets 02. The upper turret is a generally cylindrical casting g having the gear h forming the top thereof (Fig. 4) and having at its lower end a hub g which is spline-d at g2 on the upper end of the pedestal o. The upper turret g houses the cam g. The structure o q is adapted to berotated from a motor r or other suitable means through a gear s journaled on the head c and having a bevel pinion t which meshes with a bevel pinion u on a vertical shaft @,'also journaled in the head, said shaft having a inion rw which meshes with the gear h formlng a part of said rotary structure. However, it is entirely immaterial by what means the rotary structure is rotated.

Within the base a and in vertical alinement with each ocket o2 (formed in a depressed margina part of the turret o) is a carrier (Figs. 1, 7, 8 and 9) having a roller a," which runs in the peripheral groove e of the cam e. This carrier (Fig. 7) is guided in a slot o5. in the turret and is penetrated by the squared portion (Fi 8) of a stem or spindle y adapted to sli e vertically in the carrier and having a depending trunnion y2 guided in a bearing o3 at the lower end of the turret 0- and an upstanding trunnion 'ya pinned or otherwise fixed in the depending tubular stud e of a bottlerest .e whose said stud is guided in a bearing o4 of the said turret. z2 is the bottle pad or cushion of the bottle-rest. Any means well known in the art is employed to frictionally resist the vertical movement of the plunger formed by the bottle-rest and its stem y relatively to the carrier; in Fig. 8 this is shown as a pair of friction plates 2 held bearing-against opposite sides of the squared part of the stem y by springs 3 nterposed between the friction plates and set screws 4. In a vertical and radial slot y of the squared part of the stem is fixed by a pin 5 a. block 6 having an underneath downwardly and inclined stepped surface 6*. The carrier also has a vertical and radial slot 7 on the floor or lower end surface of which slides a block 8 having an upper and downwardly inclined stepped surface 8 to engage the surface 6a of block 6, the block 8 acting as a wedge. A spring 9, coiled about a pin 10, projecting inwardly from a plate m2 which covers the carrier slot 7 and is suitably affixed to the outer face of the carrier, normally holds the block 8 inwardly (Figs. 1 and 9). At a suitable point in each revolution of the rotary structure the block 8 is shifted radially outwardly so that, being clear of the block 6, the bottle supporting plunger y can be depressed in the carrier subject to the resistance of its friction gri means already described. This is accomplished by a hump or projecting cam surface e2 on the periphery of the cam e below its cam groove e encountering the inwardly projecting heel 8h of the block (Figs. 7, 8 and 9). As soon as the hump e2 clears the block the latter returns under and in osition to prevent further downward yielrfof the plunger, as during closure aixing. As will appear, the bottle-supporting means just described (including the carrier and plunger) is adapted for compensating for differing heights of bottles of the same height-standard; it may be here stated that after the compensating has been effected and when the carrier performs its next downward stroke under iniuence of the cam e the plunger is returned to its normal elevation in the carrier by contact of thebottle rest with the top of the bearing o4t (see at the left of Fig. 1).

Secured to the turret g in vertical alinement with each bottle pocket o2 of turret o is an annulus 11 (Figs. 1, 4 to 6 and 11) which has screwed on its lower end a mouthpiece 12 affording a ledge to support a yielding rubber gasket 13 contained in the annulus.

A tubular structure forming a part of what I term a slide telescopes this annulus and coacts to form therewith a sealed filling head. This structure includes the tubular stem 14, the sleeve 15 ywhich is slipped over the reduced lower end of the stem 14 and is secured thereto, as by the screw or pin 16 shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 (which sleeve will be further described in detail), and a ring 17 which is screwed onto the stem above the sleeve 15. A yielding rubber gasket 18 is received iny an underneath groove in the ring 17 and embraces the parts 14 and 15, and at a certain point in the operation when the mentioned structure is depressed the gasket 18 is compressed between 17 and 11 while the gasket 13 is compressed between the lower end of 15 and the mouthpiece 12. A part of the said slide is a block 20 to which structure 14 is secured by screws 19 and which moves in a vertical slot g3 in the-turret g and is guided by gibs 21 on the turret engaged in lateral grooves in the block. The block has a roller 22 which travels in the peripheral groove, g', of the cam g. The lower end of the stem 14'has an internal ledge 14 on which is seated and rigidly held in place by a'screw 23 a. collar 24, with a gasket 25 interposed between the collar and ledge; and down against this collar is normally held an inverted cup 26 subject to the pressure of a spring 27 interposed between the collarl and a plu 28 (Figs. 3 and 4) screwed into the top o the body part 14.

A cap plunger 29 is arranged in .said tubular structure, protruding from the lower end of the stem 14 into the sleeve 15 and having a collar 29 housed within the cup 26 and of less depth than the same, so that the plunger has some movement vertically independently of the cup. The upper end of this cap plunger protrudes through the plu 28 and has a collar 30 fixed thereon an formed with a fiat face 30b to bear against the face of block 2O to keep the cap plunger from turning.

The lower end ofthe sleeve 15 has an inward annular enlargement 31 forming an annular chamber 32 and also affording at 33 a ledge for a closure B, the sleeve having a lateral opening 34 to admit the closure to said ledge. 35 is simply a back stop to prevent the admitted closure from moving beyond the ledge. 36 (Fig. 1) is suitable means for feeding the closures to the opening 34, the same being carried by the frame of the machine and adapted to feed closures one after another to the openings 34 as they pass. The chamber 32 or' sleeve 15 has an induction opening 37 (Figs. 11 and 12) for admitting liquid thereto and adapted to register with a liquid supply port 38 (Fig. 4) in the annulus 11 when the sleeve has been fully depressed; it also has a series of inward Yand downwardly deflected eduction openings 37 Just above the ledge 33 the sleeve has an eduction opening 39 adapted to register with a snifting port 40 (Fig. 4) in the annulus 1l when the sleeve is fully depressed. (It may be here stated that the closure is admitted when the slide or main plunger is in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 6, or elevated, and when the slide is fully depressed lto bring duct 37 into registry with port 38 and the chamber-forming enlargement 31 below the snit'ting port 40 the closure-admitting opening 34 will be contained within the annulus 11 so that, as will appear, 34 will then be housed Within a sealed space and no escape of pressure to the atmosphere can then occur through said opening.) 15 forms in elect a valve.

By means of depending plate springs 41 secured at their upper ends between the sleeve 15 and the reduced lower end of the stem 14 diametrically opposite blocks 42 are yieldingly held in the position shown in Fig. 11, their inner ends being beveled at top and bottom; the upper part of the enlargement and the sleeve 15 are cut away at 43 to accommodate the pawls formed by the blocks and springs and allow their outward movement, as when a closure admitted lto the ledge is then forced upwardly, wedging the pawls apart and assuming the full line position shown in said figure. Above these blocks and supported by the enlargement is a closure-attlxing appliance 44 which may be of the type set forth in my Patent No. 1,353,628. It is interposed between said enlargement and the lower end of the stem 14.

The duct 38 leads from a valve chamber 46 projectingv from the side of the annulus 11, and this valve-chamber is supplied with the lilling liquid through a pipe 47 which extends up through the gear h and then radially inward, communicating with a vertical pipe 48 (Fig. 1) which turns with the gear and may communicate in any Way with a. suitable source ot liquid supply. The valve chamber has a valve 49 normally held closed by a spring 50 (Fig. 4) and adapted to be opened by downward pressure applied to its upper protruding end. The valve depresser consists of a stem 5l, arranged to rock on a vertical axis in a bearing 52 projecting from the side of the stem 14, and a foot 53 on the lower end of the stem 51; the upper end of the stem carries a lever 54, one arm 54a of which is connected by a spring 55 with a lixed point on the slide (Fig. 3)

and is thus normally held by the spring against the side of the collar 30 and the other arm 54" of which projects outward and is adapted to impinge a fixed abut-ment 56 on the frame of the machine in the rotation of the rotary structure. Arm 54- has an inside bevel 54". Y

An arm 57 (Figs. 4 and 5) projects laterally from the annulus 11 and has a passage therethrough of which the port 40 forms its terminus, said passage forming a. gasrelief duct and a liquid drain. This arm carries at its free end an air retreat chamber 58 which communicates at the bottom with the passage of the arm (all of this chamber except its base, which is integral with the arm, is removed in Fig. 5), and in this chamber is a piston 59 adapted to be adjusted to different elevations to change thevcapacity of the chamber, as by having holes 60 in its stem any one of which may receive a pin 61 removably arranred in the chamber. The base ot' the chamlber has a snifting vent 62 normally closed by a springpressed valve 63 which is adapted in the rotation of the rotary structure to encounter a lixed abutment 64 to be opened thereby.

The bottles may be ted to the machine as shown in Fig. 2. Here 65 is a belt or conveyor moving along a runway 66 arranged tangentially with respect to the turret o and so that the surface of the conveyor is Hush with that of the depressed marginal part of the turret, the runway having a bottle outlet 66a and a bottle inlet 66h separated by a deflector 67 which switches the bottles one after another onto the turret and onto the bottle-supports z and, after they have made the circuit of the lilling andsealing machine and become filled and sealed, back onto the conveyor.

The top of block 20 is shown recessed'at 69 to receive a dog 70 pivoted on a pin 71 in a bracket 72 which may be secured to the gear It by a screw 68, the dog having a portion (as a roller) 73 to run on the top of the cam g which has a rise at g2 (Figs. 1 and 6). The weight of the dog tends to tilt it outward so that it may abut the slide at 74, Fig. 6. at thc bottom ot a slot therein through which it projects (see Fig. 1 at the right) and during a part of the rotation assume the upward thrust thereof, as dui-in;r the gasket compressing and sealing, as will appear; but at a certain point in the revolution of the rotary structure the cam riss g2 by acting on the roller 73, retracts the dog (see Fig. 6), allowing the cam to raise the slide.

The operation will be described with reference to Figs. 14 to 15'l which show the two principal cams g e divided upon radlal lines in substantially coinciding sectors: The sectors of the cams corresponding to the fully elevated and depressed posltions of the slide and carriere respectively, are marked I-I in these figures. In the period represented by these sectors a bottle 1s laced on the bottle support and a closure ed to the ledge 33, and at` this time the dog 70 is held retracted by its camway g2.' In sectors II-II the slide is depressed into contact with gasket 13 and remains there for a A while and meanwhile thecarrier is elevated to cause the bottle to raise and thus position the closure on pawls 42, allow the depressor to assume operative relation to valve 49 by the incidental rise of the' cap plunger 29 and its collar to clear lever arm 54Il (Fig. 4a), and eiiect compensation, and then returns to position the bottle mouth in said gasket, whereupon the slide descends further to compress the gasket around the bottle mouth and establish the ports for the flow of liquid and an escape of air from the bottle and, of course, cause the depressor to open the valve 49. In sectors III-III the cam g is relieved of all upward thrust by the dog 70 being allowed by cam g2 to dog the top of the slide, and the carrier and slide remain at standstill for the maj or part of the cycle while the bottle is filled. Near the end of the period represented by these sectors the arm 54b of the depressor engages the abutment 56, turning the depressor so that valve 49 is free to rise, thus closing the pase sage of pipe 47 and holding depressor arm 54a from under collar 30. (It will be understood that the filling automaticallyf ceases when the pressure in the space formed by the filling head, chamber 58 and the bottle balances that in the source of supply). In sectors IV-IV the carrier rises for closureaiiixing (after which awl runs olii' camway g2, so that the sli e is again free to rise) and then falls to its initial level, while the slide at first remains at standstill and then rises to its initial level to release the gasket 13 and hence the bottle therefrom so that the latter can descend with the carrier; of course when the slide rises the depressor clears valve 49 and if, on the reseating of the cup 26 with consequent ejecting of the closured bottle from the aiixing appliance, the

plunger 29 has not already fallen to interlthe depressing of the plunger being insured downwardly inclined jets (which if desired may be directed so that the liquid forms a vortex in the mouth of the bottle) while the air expelled from the bottle by the liquid passes up through the mouth of the annular enlargement 31 of sleeve 15 and then via ports 39 and 40 to chamber 38, the closure having been elevated above its seat at 33 so as to offer no obstruction to the escape of the air in this way.

At any time after the bottle mouth is sealed by contact with the closure in the closure-aiixing stroke of the carrier the lever 63 may encounter the stop 64 and be moved thereby to cause venting of the chamber 59.

The principal reason for employin the means 70 to oppose the upward yied of member 14 once the cam g depresses it is to save the wear and tear which would otherwise result from parts (as g and 22) moving in contact with each other at this time, not only the bottle but the gaskes 13 and 18 being factors acting to cause such yield; I claim this means, however, with reference to its thus indicated two functions independently of each other.

In previous filling machines having a chamber, as 58, to receive the air and other gas contained in the bottle and thus allow complete filling thereof without interruptions for shifting, the construction was not such' as to permit free return of the liquid to the bottle which is s rayed into the chamber when the filling ta es place; in short, in previous machines the construction discouraged free return of the liquid, with the result that there was an appreciable loss of the liquid and the machine was always wet and untidy. It will be noted that in my machine the connection 39-40 between the filling head and chamber is not only commodious in size but that it rises directly (though at an incline) from the filling head and continues such rise clear to the chamber, without any surfaces or obstacles to check the prompt return of all liquid accumulating therein or in the chambeiyso that all the liquid drains back freely into the bottle. Moreover, where as here the machine is adapted also for axing a closure to the container after the filling, according to my invention the parts cooperating in the aixing, as'the aixing appliance itself, the supporting ledge or equivalent for the closure and the plunger 29, are arranged above the delivery or lower end of said connection or passage 39-40, so that they do not inter tere with this return of the liquid.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Means Yfor conducting liquid into a container including, xin combination, an apertured gasket-compressing member, an annular elastic gasket having underneath support in said member, said member having a adapted to communicate with said outlet upon such compression ofthe gasketI for conducting-liquid through itself to said aperture. 2. Means for conducting liquid into a container including, in combination, an apertured gasket-compressing member, an annular elastic gasket having underneath support in said member, said member having a liquid-delivery outlet leading to the a erture therethrough, and a second gas etpressing member having as its base an annular chamber-portion telescopically arranged in the aperture of the first member and above the gasket, one member being movable telescopically relatively to the other to compress the gasket between them into constricting relation to the mouth-portion of a container placed in the gasket and the second member having an inlet to its chamber adapted thereupon to communicate with said outlet and also having an outlet from said chamber to the opening therethrough.

3. Means for conductin liquid into a container including, in com ination, an apertured gasket-compressing member having a fluid conducting port leading to the aperture therethrough, an annular elastic gasket having underneath support in said member, and a second gasket-pressing member telescopically associated with the first member above the gasket, one member being movable telescopicall relatively to the other to compress the gas :et between them into constricting relation to the mouth portion of a container placed in the gasket, and the second member forming a valve for controlling the fluid flow through said port.

4. Means for conducting liquid into a container including, in combination, an apertured gasket-compressing member having a liquid conducting port leading to the aperture therethrough, an annular elastic gasket having underneath support in said member, and a second gasket-pressing member `lelescopically associated with the first member above the gasket, one member being movable telescopically `relatively to the other to compress the gasket between them into constricting relation to the mouth ort-ion of a container placed in the as et, andthe second member forming a va ve for controlling the liquid iow through saidport and having an air-escape opening opposite the opening in the gasket.

5. Means for conducting .liquid into containers including, in combination, an apertured gasket-pressing memberan annular elastic gasket having underneath support in said member, and means to form with said member, the gasket and a container having its mouth-portion introduced into the gasket a sealed space, the latter means including another gasket-pressing member telescopically associated with the first member above the gasket and another elastic gasket arranged to be compressed between said members independently of the first gasket, one of said members being telescopically movable 1gelatively to the other to compress the gasets.

6. In a machine for filling and thereupon aiiixing a closure to a container, the combination of means to receive the container mouth-portion, means, telescoped in the first means, for forming therewith and with the so-received contaner mouth-portion a sealed space, and a closure-aiixing appliance in the second means, said second means having a closure admitting opening exposed to the atmosphere and one of said means being movable telescopically relatively to the other to house said opening in the first means and form with said second means such sealed space.

7. In combination, a hollow structure to house a container mouth-portion, the same having a bottom container-mouth-portionreceiving opening and above the opening means on which to support a closure in primary position and above said means means to support the closure in secondary position, and a c losure-aiiixing appliance in said structure above the second means, said structure also having means to conduct a filling liquid to its interior and, between the first two means, an air-escape outlet, and the container and said structure being movable one relatively to the other first to cause the container to shift the closure placed on the first means to the second means, then in the opposite direction to permit filling and escape of air at the outlet, and then to cause the container to move the closure into position to be afiixed to the container by said appliance.

8. In combination, a hollow structure to house a container mouth-portion, the same having a bottom container-mouth-portionrcceiw-'ing opening and above the opening means on which to support a closure in primary position and above said means means to support the closure in secondary position, a closure-atixing appliance in said structure above the second means, the container and said structure being movable one relatively the second means and then into position to be aflixed to the container mouth-portion by said appliance, and a normally depressed and upwardly yielding plunger arranged to be elevated by the closure when shifted from the rst to the second means.

9. The combination of two structures arranged one within the other'and one being revoluble relatively to the other around an axis extending through the inner structure and one being an actuating structure having a camway and the other a carrier structure, pressure members to compress a container between them arranged in thescarrier structure and one of which is movable therein toward the other lengthwise of said axis and adapted to be engaged by said camway vand moved thereby in the carrier structure on revolving one of said structures relatively to the other, and means, movable into inter osition between the carrier structure and t e movable member after its movement toward the other member and consequent compressing of the container, to oppose return movement of the movable member. y

10. The combination of two structures arranged one within the other and one being revoluble relatively to the other around an axis extending through the inner structure and one being an actuatinglstructure having a camway and the other a carrier structure,

Y means on the carrier structure to form with the container a sealed space including a compressible gasket and a gasket-pressing member movable to compress the gasket between itself and the carrier structure and adapted to be so moved by the eamway on movement of one of said structures relatively to the other, and means, movable into interposition between the carrier structure and said'member after its movement to cause compressing of the gasket, to oppose return movement of said member.

11. In combination, a passa ed structure whose passage is adapted to de iver a liquid to a container operatively positioned to receive liquid from the discharge end of the passage, a valve in said structure normally closing` the passage, a carrier structure,

means movable in the carrier structure into and out of position to open the valve, one structure being rectilineally movable relatively to the other to cause said means to open the valve, and means, movable in the carrier structure by the container, for controlling the position of the first means.

l2. In combination, a passaged structure whose passage is adapted to deliver a liquid to a container operatively positioned to receive liquid from the discharge end of the passage, a valve in said structure normally closing the passage, a carrier structure, and means movable in the carrier structure into and out of position to open the valve, one structure being movable relatively to the other to causesaid means to open the valve, said means being movable in the carrier structure around an axis substantially parallel with the path of movement of the movable structure.

1.3. In combination, a, passaged structure whose passage is adapted to deliver a liquid to a container `operatively positioned to receive liquid from the discharge endof the passage, a valve in said structure normally closing the passage, a carrier structure, means movable in the carrier structure into and out of and normally urged into positionto open the valve, one structure'being movable relatively to the other to cause said means to open the valve, land means, normally resistlng movement of the yfirst means into said position, movable by the container to allow such movement of the first means.

14. Apparatus for conducting liquid into a container including, in combination, an apcrtured container-mouth-receiving member having a liquid delivery outlet leading to its aperture and around its aperture an internal gasket supporting ledge, and means, including an elastic annular gasket on said ledge and a gasket compressing member coactive with the ledge to compress the gasket, for forming with a container whose mouth is inserted in the gasket a sealed space withing the first member, said means normally closing the outlet and having a ort adapted upon com ression of the gas et and the forming o said sealed space to connect the outlet with said space.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

AMOS CALLESON.

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